New garbage contract to bring savings to Elgin Township

Some residents of unincorporated Elgin Township will have a new garbage collector at the start of 2012 -- and all of them are expected to save money on the deal.

Voters from among the 1,400 affected households approved a measure in the April election giving township officials the freedom to negotiate a garbage contract on their behalf. The township board recently signed a three-year contract with Allied Waste Services of Elgin, and the company is expected to begin its work Jan. 1.

Township Supervisor Annette Miller said residents should save between $224 and $285 per year, depending on their current waste collector.

"This contract not only saves our township residents money, it saves on the maintenance of our roads with less heavy truck traffic on a weekly basis and it makes our neighborhoods cleaner," Miller said.

Under the current system, as many as four different waste companies collect trash from unincorporated Elgin Township homes with their own separate trucks and garbage days. Reducing truck traffic is expected to decrease the cost of road maintenance, ultimately saving the township money.

The contract with Allied Waste Services also includes free garbage removal from the township offices and road district, saving township government about $3,600 per year, according to Miller.

The vote to give township officials the right to negotiate the contract passed by 187 to 124.

Over the next couple months, Allied Waste will be provided with a complete list of the unincorporated Elgin Township addresses. Then the company will be on its own to distribute new receptacles and bill individuals.

If an eligible homeowner opts out of the program, he won't be fined by the township, but the garbage hauler with whom he contracts will have to pay the township an extra fee.

"The whole idea is to get all that truck traffic off our roads if we don't have to have it," Miller said.